rule of recognition

In the legal theory of H.L.A. Hart, a legal system’s fundamental rule, by which all other rules are identified and understood.

• In The Concept of Law (1961), Hart contends that a society’s legal system is centered on rules. There are primary rules of obligation, which prescribe how a person should act in society, and secondary rules, by which the primary rules are created, identified, changed, and understood. A “rule of recognition” is a secondary rule, and serves to instruct citizens on when a pronouncement or societal principle constitutes a rule of obligation. Cf. RULES OF CHANGE; basic norm under NORM. — Sometimes shortened to recognition.

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词条贡献者

译员雪梅，国际知名法学院劳动法专业，专注翻译各种与劳动雇佣有关的法律文件。